PEDIATRICS Vol. 77 No. 4 April 1986, pp. 482-487
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Childhood Enuresis: Prevalence, Perceived Impact, and Prescribed Treatments

Betsy Foxman PhD1, R. Burciaga Valdez PhD1, and Robert H. Brook MD, ScD1

1 From the Health Sciences Program, The Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, California, the Departments of Medicine and Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Center for Health Sciences, Los Angeles, and the Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor

Childhood enuresis can indicate an underlying problem as benign as developmental immaturity or as serious as urinary tract obstruction. As part of a large population-based study, parents of 1,753 children aged 5 to 13 years were asked about the presence and frequency of enuresis, perceived impact, and physician-prescribed treatments. Enuresis at least once during a 3-month period was reported for 14% of this general population of children. Boys were significantly more likely to experience enuresis than girls (16% v 12%; P < .01). The prevalence of enuresis at least once a week was similar among boys and girls (7% v 6%). Parents reported that more than half of the children are distressed by their enuresis, and two thirds of parents expressed concern. Thirty-eight percent of bed wetters have seen a physician about their condition. More than one third of these children have been treated with a drug. The most commonly recommended regimen in the literature, the bed alarm, was prescribed to only 3% of bed-wetting children who saw a physician.

Key Words: bedwetting • enuresis • health status

Submitted on August 6, 1984
Accepted on July 9, 1985




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